Come Back to Me
by Anonymous Starbucks Lover
Summary: She wouldn't wake up and he needed her to, desperately. He couldn't eat, drink, sleep, or function properly without her. He absolutely needed her to go on in his life because at the moment, his world was a dull, unmoving place. He needed her to come back to him. "Orihime… please, please wake up. Just wake up and come back to me…" PWP- but not smut. (Please read: note at the end.)


**Disclaimer:** Bleach and its entirety belong to Tite Kubo. All rights reserved to Tite Kubo and Studio Pierrot. This is solely a not-for-profit fan activity, and in no way intends to infringe on copyrights held by Tite Kubo, Studio Pierrot, Shōnen Jump, or Viz Media (or any other people/companies involved with the manga/anime, Bleach).

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**Come Back to Me**

**_By _****Anonymous Starbucks Lover**

**Summary:** She wouldn't wake up and he needed her to, desperately. He couldn't eat, drink, sleep, or function properly without her. He absolutely needed her to go on in his life because at the moment, his world was a dull, unmoving place. He needed her to come back to him. "Orihime… please, please wake up. I need you to wake up… Just find a way to get out of whatever place you're stuck in and come back to me…"

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**xXx**

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She wasn't responding to him like she usually did. She wasn't opening her lovely grey eyes that sparkled an almost silvery color in the sun or that looked green and blue in different lighting. She wasn't smiling brightly at him like she would when they woke up next to each other every morning. She wasn't slowly opening her eyes, blinking the sleep away, and turning to face him with her natural radiance and beauty…

No, she was instead lying on a stiff bed, seemingly lifeless. She was just lying there like an angel –a sickly pale green angel- in a blue hospital gown with the sheets tucked in around her. Her caramel-color hair –which was losing a bit of its sheen and looked almost like a honey color now-, was splayed out around her, like a halo adding to her angelic look. Her smoky and gorgeous, doe-shaped eyes -like that of an owl's and that could be compared to pools of grey- were now closed, allowing her long eyelashes to practically touch her cheeks. In a sick, twisted way, the beauty she possessed now was ethereal and unearthly- equipollent to that of her usual beauty.

Ichigo reached out and gently laced his fingers with her own, wishing that she'd respond and hold his hand as well. That just like he had done, she'd squeeze his hand back in reaffirmation that she would be or was okay.

Not looking up to see nor acknowledge a nurse enter the room to address him, Ichigo continued to stare at his wife's left hand, in awe at the way her wedding ring's diamonds would sparkle in the hospital room's somewhat dim lights.

He was vaguely aware of the fact that the nurse was now talking to him.

"Kurosaki-san," she timidly called out to the distressed man.

It was passed visiting hours, he knew that, but Ichigo had established with the head of the hospital that he wouldn't be leaving her side all too much… not until she woke up at least.

_"__Ichigo-kun, what are doing here?"_

"Kurosaki-san," she called again, louder this time.

Ichigo looked up.

"I'm sorry," he cleared his throat and sat up. "How can I help you?"

"Well, it's- I have to ask you to leave. The doctors will be coming in soon to evaluate her condition and begin the test sequence again," the petite woman spoke, never meeting his eye for more than a fleeting second.

Ichigo sighed.

_ "__I just wanted to tell you something, Hime."_

Ishida and a few of their colleagues were going to run some tests on her- again. He'd have to leave her, despite being a doctor himself, so they could treat her and it'd make his heart hurt even more. He didn't want to leave her side, no matter what. But it was Karakura General Hospital's regulation that family members were not allowed to be with their loved ones during operations, test conductions, and things of the sort. And as a doctor, he was also not allowed to be her primary care taker- another fabulous rule the employees had to live with. Of course, he could observe as a physician, but he'd rather not be in the room watching men and women he didn't know –with the exception of Ishida- poke and prod his wife with needles and machines.

_Orihime giggled that cute giggle she had and beamed up at her husband. "You came all the way to the airport from the hospital –__**downtown**__- just to tell me something? What happened to calls or texts? And aren't you supposed to be busy saving lives?"_

Looking up at the nurse, he nodded his consent and stood up.

_"__Or skywriting or telegraphs or blah, blah, blah," Ichigo mocked her as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into a tight embrace. "I wanted to see you and it's better to say in person."_

_Pulling back to observe her husband's face, the auburn-haired Kurosaki matriarch wondered why her husband would get so serious all of a sudden. _

_"__Ichigo?"_

_"__Be careful, Orihime. Don't do strange things in a strange place. Don't draw attention to yourself and stay safe. No midnight strolls and carry your phone on you all the time. It's no good to you dead, so remember to charge it and call me whenever you have the chance- every time you do and every day," Ichigo cut her inquiry off and looked down at her earnestly._

_"__Call me if you're in trouble and I'll be on the first flight to Osaka immediately. Remember to eat and __**stay **__**safe**__, you accident-prone princess, you. More importantly, come back to me- in one piece, healthy and happy and preferably alive."_

_Orihime smiled at his over protective tendencies. "I will, Ichi-kun. Don't worry."_

_"__Promise me," he demanded. "Promise you'll come back to me."_

_Orihime leaned up to kiss him softly on the lips and placed a hand on his cheek. _

_"__Ichigo… I promise."_

Ichigo stared down at Orihime with lifeless eyes. With the eyes of a man who looked like he had lost everything. And it felt like he had…

Months ago, while researching about comas, he had read somewhere that people in comas could hear everything that was going on around them; they were very much conscious to the activity taking place in the world, but were "trapped" somewhere, in a limbo of sorts, trying to reach their loved ones again.

So, he had decided he would talk to her every day and he'd let her know everything that was going on.

Staring down at his partner, he began the routine that he had started all those months ago…

"Orihime…" he began. "Hime, please, please wake up. I need you to wake up…"

She wouldn't wake up and he needed her to, desperately. He couldn't eat, drink, sleep, or function properly without her. He absolutely needed her to go on in his life because at the moment, the world was a dull, unmoving place. He needed her to come back to him.

"**We** need you to wake up," he continued.

_"__But you have to promise me you'll take care of Ryo-kun!"_

_The orange-haired man swore he would._

And Ichigo thought of a little boy with wide, grey orbs that had come from his mother and fiery, wild orange spikes that had come from his father. He pondered about a little boy who loved red bean paste and despised robots, but loved chocolate and despised tight clothes. He thought of a boy with an imagination almost as wild as his mom's and a fierce protective drive that rivaled his dad's at just five-years-old. His thoughts wondered to a little boy with a bright smile almost as jovial as Orihime's, but a scowl that looked eerily similar to his own. He thought of the little boy who cried every night because his precious Okaa-san was sleeping like the princess in his fairy tales but the difference was nothing would wake her up, including her Prince Charming.

_Ichigo watched her walk to her designated gate after sharing a brief, albeit passionate kiss. _

_She turned around and waved to him, shouting above the crowd, "I love you!"_

_Ichigo waved a single wave back, accompanied by a nod and smiled. Tucking his hands into his front pockets, he watched her walk into the hall leading to the airplane, catching a view of the little wisps of chestnut hair swaying as she walked away._

_"__I love you, too," he whispered, but she never got to hear it._

Ichigo watched her breaths come slowly and evenly. Leaning down so that their foreheads were touching, he whispered, "Just find a way to get out of whatever place you're stuck in and come back to me… because you promised and I'm holding you to it."

Standing at full height, Ichigo stretched and began walking towards the door; the nurse was long gone, having left to give him- no, them a few moments of privacy.

Turning at the threshold, Ichigo looked back at his beautiful spouse.

"I love you, too."

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**xXx**

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**Author's Note:** This is my first story for this account and I just want to apologize for it being so gloomy and unhappy. My other stories won't be like this, but I didn't post this story really for everyone here. I posted it for my sister, who always encouraged me to write (which I obviously refused to do until now). I posted it for my sister, who always encouraged me to write, but now is in the hospital… in a coma. I hope that she wakes up soon so she can see that I'm writing again. I didn't post before but I am posting now for her and I hope she comes back to us, because I really don't know what I'd do without my big sister.

To me, our family, and her husband and friends (including those here on FanFiction), she is known as Isabella Rose or just Isabella or Ella. To the rest of the FanFiction world, she is known as **Ichihime Kurosaki**. I just want to let all those working with her on anything know that she won't be getting to your projects for a while, but please don't get rid of them or start them with someone else because that'd probably make her really sad. And it goes without say that all of her stories are on unofficial/official hiatus. I would update for her, because she has some chapters saved to her account, but I don't know her email/password for FanFiction. I am sorry for the inconvenience, but hopefully she'll be back and kicking again with her bad ass stories soon.

And I'll get to correcting things eventually.

Thanks,

Anonymous


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